“I’ve been trying!”
“Here...” He rolled onto his back, which brought her on top of him. “You take charge and do anything that feels good.”
There was a heartbeat of silence. Then she said, “You’re what feels good to me.”
The way she made that statement led him to believe it encompassed more than the physical. It was usually the kind of declaration that frightened him, that made him believe he was getting into a sticky situation. But somehow, tonight, he responded to that deeper element, wanted it to be there.
He liked this woman. He liked her a lot.
“You’re what feels good to me, too,” he admitted.
She stared down at him. He could see the shine in her eyes, even though she was barely visible in the moonlight cutting through the blinds. It felt as if he’d finally reached her on a profound level. And that made a difference. When she started to move, it wasn’t all about the gasps and groans and physical pleasure he’d experienced so many times before. This was a more intimate connection. He didn’t care if the sex was perfect; he only cared that she felt safe to enjoy it. And, oddly enough, he wasn’t thinking about how he could slip out of the relationship without hurting her when it was over. He was letting himself go, too, in a way he’d never let go before, and that made this very different.
How ironic that he would feel what he was feeling on the night Baxter had tried to kiss him. It was as if the pendulum of his emotions had swung all the way back to the other side. He was excited, turned on, attracted enough to pursue this woman.
“See?” he whispered. “Feel the rhythm. You can start out nice and easy....”
She did move nice and easy, but not for long. He smiled as the tension began to escalate, because he could tell she was experiencing the same growing pleasure he was. Too carried away to respond to his instructions, she arched her back and rocked faster and faster, and he helped her keep the rhythm with his hands on her thighs.
Considering how hard he’d tried the first time around, he’d expected this to take a while. But it didn’t. After just a few minutes, he sensed that she was close, and that got him so excited he almost ruined it for her.
“Addy!” He could only say her name, but he was trying to warn her that he couldn’t hang on much longer.
“Not yet,” she gasped.
Clenching his hands in the bedding, he scrambled to concentrate on other things in an attempt to last. But then he heard her groan and felt that distinctive shudder and nothing could’ve stopped him from joining her.
* * *
Addy woke from a deep and dreamless sleep to the feel of a warm body curved protectively around hers. It took a moment to remember where she was, to realize this wasn’t Clyde, who was the only man she’d ever woken up with before.
Then panic set in. What time was it? Had Gran gotten up and found her gone?
Lifting her head, she searched the darkness for Noah’s alarm clock—and sagged in relief. It was only five-twenty. Gran didn’t get up until six or six-thirty. If she hurried, she could make it back to her room before Gran even knew she’d been gone.
Careful not to wake Noah, she slid out of bed and began searching for her clothes. Her shirt and shoes were in the living room. She remembered that. But her panties and sweat bottoms had to be here...somewhere.
“Hey, you okay?”
Noah’s sleepy words made her freeze. “Fine. I’m...everything’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
“I’m not going back to sleep. I don’t want you out alone.” He started to get up. “I’ll walk you home.”
“No. You can’t. Someone could see us together.”
She heard the rasp of his beard growth as he rubbed his face. “Oh, right. And the way we look, there’d be no question as to what we’ve been doing.” He laughed as if imagining the sight they’d make. “What time is it?”
“Early, but there could be a few cars out and, in Whiskey Creek, that’s all it would take.”
He raised himself into a sitting position. “Will you be okay on your own?”
She used her feet to feel across the carpet. “Of course. It’s only a couple of blocks.”
“But after what happened on Wednesday, I’m afraid—”
“That won’t happen again.”
The tone of his voice changed. “How do you know?”
He was asking her to be honest with him about the night he’d rescued her from the mine, but she couldn’t. What he knew from having found her was all he could ever know. Even that was too much. “I just do.”
“Will you tell me something?”
She found her panties. “What?”
“Your ex-husband’s name?”
She said nothing.
“That’s a no?”
“Why does it matter?” she asked.
“I’d like to talk to him.”
“About what?” She located her sweatpants hanging over the arm of a chair. “You don’t even know him, and he’s no longer part of my life.”
“He’s the one who hurt you, right?”
“No!”
“You’re protecting someone.”
“Forget it, okay?” she said as she slipped on her sweats. She started for the living room, then realized she should say something in parting. “Um, thanks for...”
“For?” he prompted when she couldn’t come up with the appropriate words.
“A good time.” She blanched at how clichéd that sounded but tried to rally. “I had fun.”
There was a slight pause. “So did I.”
She’d been covering her bare chest even though it was probably too dark for him to see her. “Bye.”
“Wait a sec. Will you turn on the light?”
“I’m not dressed.”
“You don’t want me to see you? After last night?”
“There’s no need for you to wake up all the way,” she said, and dashed out to get her shirt.
She could hear him getting up. The light went on a second later. He was naked when he carried out a slip of paper. “Here’s my cell phone. Give me a call after you’ve had a chance to get some sleep. I’ll take you to dinner.”
What was he talking about? They’d already had sex. This was supposed to be when he said he wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship and he just wanted to be friends.
She stared at his outstretched hand. “That’s okay.”